By Sharon Hartley
In the humorous video titled ‘Episode 1 of Spicy Questions’ shared on Freddy Hirsch’s Facebook page, former Springbok captain Jean de Villiers sits down with Bok lock Eben Etzebeth, who he introduces as Eben ‘Boerewors’ Etzebeth, to ask him some spicy questions about boerewors and braai.
Etzebeth confirmed that he did not prepare for the interview and that he’s relying on de Villiers, to which he jokingly compared Etzebeth’s performance issues when they played together, saying: “So I did all the hard work again and you do nothing.”
Acknowledging that he has his ups and downs, Etzebeth conceded: “Exactly.”
But the recently married young Bok got his comeuppance by reminding de Villiers that those were the first four years of his career.
However, Etzebeth’s retaliation came prematurely after de Villiers, ever the wit and the older hand, remarked that they were the best four years.
De Villiers continues to ask Etzebeth who the best braaiers in the team are.
With so many big men involved, rugby is surely a sausage fest, and the question is bound to pop up among players sometime in the changing rooms.
Etzebeth named Thomas du Toit and Frans Malherbe.
Interested in whether Etzebeth can handle the heat in the kitchen, de Villiers asked him to describe his perfect braaibroodjie before diving deep through the main thrust of the interview when de Villiers asked Etzebeth: “When it comes to boerewors, does size matter?”
As a master of the line-out by consistently rising to the occasion, handling wayward balls played into touch and knocking them back into play, Etzebeth is an obvious expert on matters of size. His favourite exercise is surely the jerk and clean.
The 32-year-old gets off to a solid start when he replied: “Probably for me not too thick, nor too thin.”
Then referring to the boerewors on display on the table in front of him, he said: “So like a medium size, like this one, ja it looks like a nice size,”
De Villiers however presses the point that for him “it’s more about the taste than the size.”
He then followed with a more tender question: “What was nicer, your first kiss or your first taste of braaivleis?”
And Etzebeth’s deflated answer revealed that he has fallen head over heels in love with his actress and singer wife, Anlia Etzebeth, who clearly has a lot to smile about.
The interview provided a satisfying ending with Etzebeth calling de Villiers out for not sending him messages before a game, for his birthday or for Christmas.